Support NeoGAF

[madmackem]

It feels this holiday season has been the craziest ever with regards price drops, I don't think I've seen so many triple A titles drop by so much so quickly. I understand it can boost sales temporarily but it just can't be healthy at all.

We've seen mega titles lose 20-30% off the launch day price within a week or two, I'm a big gamer I buy more games than the average gamer does but I've felt burned enough this year with super quick price drops that going forward I'm going to wait a week or so from now on.

And that's the crutch of the problem publishers have now fostered, they are training customers to wait a week and get the game later with a massive price cut and better game largely due to how quick patches are dropping now. This can't be healthy for the industry at all, just this week I was interested in dead rising 4 but given what's been happening I waited, guess what a week or so later Argos are doing the game for £24.99 come on this can't be healthy and I bet it has the suites at these mega pubs nervous but is it largely of thier own doing? What does the future hold if they continue down this path.

 

[oni-link]

They've been training us to wait for years now

Buying Day 1 is just bad for the consumer at this point

You play it before they patch it into an acceptable state and you pay a premium for doing so

Everyone has a backlog these days, so it's almost always better to wait

 

[madmackem]

They've been training us to wait for years now

Buying Day 1 is just bad for the consumer at this point

You play it before they patch it into an acceptable state and you pay a premium for doing so

Everyone has a backlog these days, so it's almost always better to wait

I've been gaming since before the nes and bar the crash I don't think I've seen games lose thier price so quickly and so many of them, has me worried for the state of big titles going forward,

 

[hanspampel]

the one price fits all model is outdated and dead

today you have your $80/$100 early access editions
$60 regular edition
33% off some weeks after launch
additional content via MTX and DLC ranging from $1.99 to $99


we even have games selling at $20 $40 and $60 initially

 

[wapplew]

I've been gaming since before the nes and bar the crash I don't think I've seen games lose thier price so quickly and so many of them, has me worried for the state of big titles going forward,

They will go after whale's pocket harder to make up/make more for the price cut, it will be ugly going forward.

 

[danowat]

The market is saturated, before the era of indie developers, the market was controlled by big publishers, now the market is much more competitive, and there are just so many games that people don't need to buy the latest game on day one.

I think console manufacturers opening up the platforms to indie developers was the shifting point.

 

[oni-link]

I've been gaming since before the nes and bar the crash I don't think I've seen games lose thier price so quickly and so many of them, has me worried for the state of big titles going forward,

The problem is there are too many games, most people don't have the time to play through 3 or 4 huge open world games a year, and juggle a few online MP games at the same time, so waiting for the price drop just makes sense

 

[primasaurus]

Except Nintendo, but yeah

Not worth buying day one

 

[alr1ght]

When you have 10 AAA titles that are all targeting the same audience launching in the same time period, some are going to get ignored. More options create downward pressure on the pricing.

Nintendo can keep their game prices high because their audience doesnt have much choice. It's also one of the reasons I have no desire to invest in a new Nintendo console.

 

[bounchfx]

buying day 1 these days is very much an early experience tax, but people are clearly ok with this.

I'm a fan of price tiering. you essentially pay what you feel the game will be worth to you, and they drop the fucking prices so fast these days even if you're a $40 kind of guy, you can probably get most new releases for that within 2 weeks. It's not much of a wait. Games are competing for player's time these days more than anything.

that being said, it does feel kinda shitty if you get the game and see it half price the week after. but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

 

[Persona7]

Can't remember the last non-discounted game I purchased besides The Silver Case Limited Run edition.

 

[Head.spawn]

I guess they figure the diehards will be there day one regardless.

From there, there are the on the fence people and once they see that price drop $15, $20, $30... they hop on it like a live grenade, because typically that price is for a limited time and then shoots back up. So they net their standard buyers, then bargain shoppers, some of who might not have even bought it at that high of a price anyways.

I think overall it is a sound strategy because typically after the first week or so you see a massive dip in purchases... doing this makes the sales surge more and can like last a bit longer. It certainly got me buying 3 or 4 games this fall that I absolutely hadn't planned on.

EA has been toying with this strategy for a while now and now that you see others on board with it, I would have to assume that the numbers are working in their favor if they are all going in on it.

 

[Suburban Thug]

I never buy day one or full price unless it's a game I really want or from a developer I'd like to support. The $60 or bust physical pricing structure is to blame for these quick drops in my opinion. Imagine if publishers would launch more $40 AA games or $30 remasters! That would be impulse buy territory but now I just shrug my shoulders and say "might as well get it for $20 or less in a few months"

Seems like digital is the only place getting things right. I think most indies are appropriately priced and there's more variety.

 

[Angel_DvA]

When you have 10 AAA titles that are all targeting the same audience launching in the same time period, some are going to get ignored. More options create downward pressure on the pricing.

Nintendo can keep their game prices high because their audience doesnt have much choice. It's also one of the reasons I have no desire to invest in a new Nintendo console.

We can end it here.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

When you have 10 AAA titles that are all targeting the same audience launching in the same time period, some are going to get ignored. More options create downward pressure on the pricing.

Nintendo can keep their game prices high because their audience doesnt have much choice. It's also one of the reasons I have no desire to invest in a new Nintendo console.

Oh come the fuck on with that shit.

Nintendo games maintain their price because they keep SELLING through the life of the system they are on. When there aren't 3 Mario karts on 3ds, the first one remains evergreen. Another large reason is that they very rarely overship a game. Sales and drops happen when there is excess stock that the wholesale or retailer wants to move. It's rarely the publisher rebating those, and Nintendo is super conservative when it comes to manufactoring and warehousing.

 

[Ammogeddon]

Yeah I noticed it too but mainly the PSN discounts which have made buying digital a more compelling option. I used to buy most of my games day one but now hold out for a majority of them.

 

[Username1198]

I almost NEVER buy games day one, except for a few times this year, including FF XV and call of duty legacy edition, both games that turned out to be huge disappointments.

So yea, never again lol.

I usually buy my games for dirt cheap on gamefly or whenever Amazon has em on sale.

 

[Head.spawn]

Oh come the fuck on with that shit.

Nintendo games maintain their price because they keep SELLING through the life of the system they are on. When there aren't 3 Mario karts on 3ds, the first one remains evergreen. Another large reason is that they very rarely overship a game. Sales and drops happen when there is excess stock that the wholesale or retailer wants to move. It's rarely the publisher rebating those, and Nintendo is super conservative when it comes to manufactoring and warehousing.

What's weird about what he said?

Nintendo isn't competing in price with anyone else on their console except for their own games. They simply have no incentive to drop the price... you skip one $60 game, what are you going to buy? Their other $60 game? 3rd party junk?

Just the way I've always seen it.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

One possibility I see going forward from this is that retailers will stop ordering en masse and some titles will be a little more difficult to find over its shelf span as games will probably sell out a little more frequently. I think with the safe games like Call of Duty under-performing this year at the retail/sell-through level, retailers are going to be a lot more stingy on ordering much more than their preorders.

I don't know how badly retailers are taking the blow on these supposedly disappointing sales, though. I also have to wonder how much of a shift to digital on the consumer end is accounting for these lesser sell-throughs at retail, since those numbers seem to rarely get spoken of when summing up the data.

 

[rochellepaws]

I'm beginning to learn the kinds of games that reduce quickly and the kind that don't. It appears worthwhile to buy non-AAA Japanese physical games on Day 1 as with high demand and low stock they tend to increase in price very quickly. Nintendo games meanwhile seem to remain at a static price while AAA Japanese games like FF, SF, MGS etc seem to follow western trends.
For western physical games or any kind of digital game it's always worth waiting unless you intend to play them on Day 1. Worst case scenario is they'll be the same price, probable case is slightly lower and possibly significantly lower.

I was burned this year on buying Watch Dogs 2 on a pre-order as a christmas gift for my brother but I'll know to wait next time. The trend might be bad for publishers but its great news for the patient consumer.

 

[Pyramid head]

When you have 10 AAA titles that are all targeting the same audience launching in the same time period, some are going to get ignored. More options create downward pressure on the pricing.

Nintendo can keep their game prices high because their audience doesnt have much choice. It's also one of the reasons I have no desire to invest in a new Nintendo console.

If God of War was on the Wii U, at 50% off, I'd still have bought Bayonetta at full price over it.

If DriveClub was on the Wii U, at 50% off, I'd still have bought Mario Kart 8 at full price over it.

If Knack or Ratchet and Klank were on the Wii U, at 50% off, I'd still have bought Super Mario World 3D at full price over them.

Giving me a wider choice wouldn't have made my purchasing decisions any harder.

 

[filly]

Its weird that black friday seems to directly co-inside with AAA release barage.
You don't have to wait long at all to see everything get discounted because of this.

Will have to keep this in mind for next year... which is exactly why this is bad for the industry.

 

[CouchMaster]

Nintendo can keep their game prices high because their audience doesnt have much choice.

Lmao this is a new one.

 

[Suburban Thug]

What's weird about what he said?

Nintendo isn't competing in price with anyone else on their console except for their own games. They simply have no incentive to drop the price... you skip one $60 game, what are you going to buy? Their other $60 game? 3rd party junk?

Just the way I've always seen it.

I think both posters are right. Nintendo can keep game prices high because they don't flood the market with yearly sequels so their games retain value well. They also don't overship which explains why out of print stuff fetches a lofty price. However, it's also true that Nintendo only gamers don't have as much choice when it comes to purchasing so there's no incentive to lower the price.

 

[GHG]

I personally think that publishers don't mind dropping prices early anymore because they know that once they get people on board they can load them with microtransactions/dlc and still ultimately walk away with $60 and then some.

The base game is just the gateway now as far as they are concerned.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Why people make it a habit of buying games day 1 baffle me. All hail the price drops. The sooner and greater percent the better.

 

[jabuseika]

Is just not worth it buying day 1, considering how many games ship broken.

 

[Sanctuary]

The problem is there are too many games, most people don't have the time to play through 3 or 4 huge open world games a year, and juggle a few online MP games at the same time, so waiting for the price drop just makes sense

I have the opposite problem. Or rather, if you had said "there are too many good games" I would. I've played exactly two new games this year. Three if you count an expansion. Not even one of them would I consider calling "great" even. Last few years have been dreadfully dull to me regarding new video games, and 2017 is the first year that seems to be showing huge signs of life.

 

[Steel]

Everything big budget is targeting the First/Third person shooter audience. What's not a shooter is generally an open world ubisoft-like nowadays. Or it's a shooter that is an open-world ubisoft-like. There's a couple of exceptions, of course, but they're rare.

Which is to say, they're all cannibalizing each other. If individual AAA game publishers were concerned with the health of the overall market, they'd make a better variety of games with all sorts of budgets. But the shooter market is the biggest so companies are gonna aim at it individually because that has the highest chance from their perspective to maximize profits.

 

[redcrayon]

Customers being encouraged to wait a couple of weeks and see exactly what they are getting is absolutely healthier for both the industry and their wallets in the long term than the obsession with preorders.

 

[Mato]

And then there is Super Mario 3d Land which still goes for 50eu in my local stores. I just can't.

 

[NewDust]

They've been training us to wait for years now

On the contrary, they have been heavily incentivizing to buy (pre-)day 1 at premium prices.

Can somebody explain to me why we don't get greatest hits/players choice $20 games anymore? I miss those

Digital discounting on titles is cheaper than reboxing physical copies.

 

[Suburban Thug]

Can somebody explain to me why we don't get greatest hits/players choice $20 games anymore? I miss those

 

[CanUKlehead]

Yeah, no reason for me to buy games on Day One for the last few years.

Bw the price dumps and the unfinished games, the hell with being part of the zeitgeist.

I found AC Unity to be a better experience two months after release, at half the price and most of the major bugs fixed.

The person who buys Dishonored 2 now, just 5 weeks after, gets a game for half the price and has a New Game + option.

I saw a guy purchase the Soul Calibur V special edition for £60. Saw it two weeks later for £24.

Logically speaking, there's no reason to get them on day one. You only want it cause you're realy excited or you want to play with your buddies. Otherwise, wait.

 

[wapplew]

Maybe digital also part of why retail price crash so fast.
Retail copy don't have much advantage to compete with digital for those day 1 full price buyer.

 

[Sanctuary]

Logically speaking, there's no reason to get them on day one. You only want it cause you're realy excited or you want to play with your buddies. Otherwise, wait.

Can't speak for anyone else, but that's pretty much the only reason I've ever bought any game day one. Usually, I only buy games that I really want to play anyway...
Never understood the concept of buying things just because they are on sale.

 

[Turin Turambar]

Oh come the fuck on with that shit.

Nintendo games maintain their price because they keep SELLING through the life of the system they are on.

...because they have much less competition.

 

[Sjefen]

60$ day one purchasers are the early adopter beta testers and In the fall there is too much competition prices will take a hit.

 

[Femto.]

Can somebody explain to me why we don't get greatest hits/players choice $20 games anymore? I miss those

Personally, I don't miss these simply because we don't have to deal with ugly box art and different colored cases.

 

[Neifirst]

Can somebody explain to me why we don't get greatest hits/players choice $20 games anymore? I miss those

We do - Nintendo has been re-releasing Wii U and 3DS titles in their selects lines for $20 for over a year now...

http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-selects

 

[HotHamBoy]

Maybe digital also part of why retail price crash so fast.
Retail copy don't have much advantage to compete with digital for those day 1 full price buyer.

They probably overship physical copies.

Still, we saw some competitive black friday deals on PSN. Some were better than the retail deals, some weren't, but they were close.

We do - Nintendo has been re-releasing Wii U and 3DS titles in their selects lines for $20 for over a year now...

http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-selects

Pretty crazy that NSMBU, a launch game, is still $60. I think it's been long enough for Mario Kart 8, too. Captain Toad should definitely be a $20 select title.

I'm still waiting on a good sale for Splatoon and Mario Maker, sigh.

If God of War was on the Wii U, at 50% off, I'd still have bought Bayonetta at full price over it.

If DriveClub was on the Wii U, at 50% off, I'd still have bought Mario Kart 8 at full price over it.

If Knack or Ratchet and Klank were on the Wii U, at 50% off, I'd still have bought Super Mario World 3D at full price over them.

Giving me a wider choice wouldn't have made my purchasing decisions any harder.

You really cherry picked, there. PS4 also has far more titles to choose from.

Even limiting it to First Party, I wonder how many would choose those games over, say, Bloodborne...

And I'll take Persona 5 over Tokyo Mirage Sessions and The Witcher 3 over Xenoblade Chronicles. Not first party but also not on Wii U.

 

[feint_ruled]

This definitely happened last gen, in the UK at least. It was always a matter of waiting a few months and you would get your AAA titles for 18 quid. Maybe this gen just needed a while to get there.

 

[IgotElbows]

This almost goes for consoles too.

Insane the Ps4 and xbone were both 230 dollars.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

If God of War was on the Wii U, at 50% off, I'd still have bought Bayonetta at full price over it.

If DriveClub was on the Wii U, at 50% off, I'd still have bought Mario Kart 8 at full price over it.

If Knack or Ratchet and Klank were on the Wii U, at 50% off, I'd still have bought Super Mario World 3D at full price over them.

Giving me a wider choice wouldn't have made my purchasing decisions any harder.

You're not everyone. A lot of people have to choose between a couple games they want because of their financial situation. If they want 2 games equally but can only afford one then naturally the 50% off one makes the most logical sense. Also people who prioritize being smart with their money won't pay 100% for something they can wait to get for <50%. Which is why I haven't bothered with Nintendo in a long time.

 

[oni-link]

This definitely happened last gen, in the UK at least. It was always a matter of waiting a few months and you would get your AAA titles for 18 quid. Maybe this gen just needed a while to get there.

Yeah I got a PS3 in 2011 and have only paid more than £20 for a game a handful of times

 

[Kill3r7]

The market is saturated, before the era of indie developers, the market was controlled by big publishers, now the market is much more competitive, and there are just so many games that people don't need to buy the latest game on day one.

I think console manufacturers opening up the platforms to indie developers was the shifting point.

The problem is there are too many games, most people don't have the time to play through 3 or 4 huge open world games a year, and juggle a few online MP games at the same time, so waiting for the price drop just makes sense

More games is not the problem. As a matter a fact we are getting fewer retail releases this gen then we did last gen. The once popular AA games have just about completely disappeared. Sure indie games have been picking up the slack but they too are facing an uphill battle when it comes to price and sales. This holiday season has been pretty terrible when it comes to software sales, especially in the AAA space. If the trend continues next year then the industry might have a problem. The more interesting note is that by and large SP games have struggled will continue to have a tough time moving forward compared to games as a service such as Destiny where the consumer feels the need to jump in Day1 or be left behind.

This definitely happened last gen, in the UK at least. It was always a matter of waiting a few months and you would get your AAA titles for 18 quid. Maybe this gen just needed a while to get there.

Right now it is not a matter of months anymore. We are talking a week or two after release slashing 33%-50% of the initial price point. That is significant. People who are BB Elite members in the US have done pretty well over the last couple of months, prior to November, pricematching within 30 days of release. The fact that retailers have shortened their return policies is telling (not only for games but most products at large). I guess the one saving grace is that we get a larger return window during the holidays.

 

[AniHawk]

in essence, giant publishers shove millions of games into stores with the knowledge that they'll have to mark down a good portion of them. this is fine because they'll meet whatever overall profit they were aiming for, and stores can clean out their inventory in a matter of months, instead of sitting on products for a lot longer.

problem is for the small guys who find themselves subject to this structure. the option then becomes taking a big risk by having too many games in the marketplace, or reducing day one sales and exposure, and therefore lose chances on reorders due to a lack of awareness. that's why you're seeing something like exist archive on sale for a quarter of the price it launched at two months ago.

 

[chromatic9]

In this case Argos are seemingly out of stock for Dead Rising. It's probably a headline grab although the OP's point still stands. DR could be had for £30 at many places.

It's funny how not long ago people were saying games are £45-55 now so deal with it plus the silly inflation notions. I said the "next gen" tax won't last and games will be at £30-40 like always. What's bad is in UK/Europe around 20% of the sale price is tax to the government and then you have the £ weaker and games getting cheaper earlier means less and less money than ever before. Your £30 game is cheap but £6 is off to the government so it's actually £24 and this works out to around $30 for a brand new game to be split by those concerned.

The US has for a few years now followed suit with knock down prices. Before games held on to $50-60 for a longer time and tax is paid on top and mostly ranging from around 2-10%

 

[Kareha]

I have a backlog of over 500 games on Steam so I very rarely buy anything day 1 or preorder, its just not worth it nowadays. The majority of my purchase are through the various big Steam sales or from the likes of Amazon, Bundlestars etc.

 

[bounchfx]

On the contrary, they have been heavily incentivizing to buy (pre-)day 1 at premium prices.

this is very true, but most of those incentives are throwaway content or merch

be strong
-
it really does suck that those buying day 1 are also taking the risk of the game being a pile of shit, so it's another benefit to waiting a little. that being said... i want it nowwwwwwwwwww

Spoiler

thank god I dont even have time to play these days, it's saved me so much money